2 arrested in Chinese student killings in LA

LOS ANGELES - Two suspects have been arrested in the killings of two Chinese graduate students studying at the University of Southern California (USC), both the Los Angeles mayor and police chief announced Friday.

The arrests were announced at a press conference by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Charlie Beck at LAPD headquarters.

According to LAPD, the first man, suspected of being the killer, was taken into custody about 4 pm local time (2300 GMT). The second man, believed to be involved in the killings, was taken into custody in the Antelope Valley a few hours after the first arrest.

The two suspects will be prosecuted next week, LAPD told the press conference.

A spokesman for the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles told Xinhua that the Consulate was pleased to hear the arrests, calling for bringing to justice the killer soon.

Wu Ying and Qu Ming, both 23 and second-year graduate electrical engineering students from China, were shot and killed near the USC campus at around 1 am local time (0800 GMT) on April 11, while sitting in a car on the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue, where the female victim once lived.

Wu was found shot in the front passenger seat of the car. Qu tried to run and call for help, but he collapsed and was found on a nearby porch, police said.

The USC announced a $125,000 reward two days after the tragedy for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever gunned down two Chinese students. Days later, the city of Los Angeles also offered $75,000 in reward for information over the killing.

The arrests came after the parents of the two Chinese students filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the USC on Wednesday. Alan Burton Newman, attorney for the plaintiffs, confirmed Thursday to Xinhua via telephone that the court accepted the lawsuit.

The USC website states the university is ranked among the "safest of US universities and colleges, with one of the most comprehensive, proactive campus and community safety programs in the nation." But the parents accuse the USC of not providing patrols in the area where the students were killed and the campus is in a high-crime area.

In a statement issued Thursday in response to the suit, USC attorney Debra Wong Yang called the shooting a tragedy, but said there were no grounds for the lawsuit.

More and more Chinese students are coming to the United States for study. Nearly 160,000 Chinese students were studying in the US colleges in 2010/11 school year, up 23 percent from the previous year, according to statistics provided by the Council of Graduate Schools.

In USC alone, there are 2,513 Chinese students, accounting for 34.8 percent of international students and representing the single largest group in the school's international scene.